Chicken Director General

Besides other dishes I understand that if you have not tried  Chicken Director General (DG for short) ( pronounced Djay in French), then you have not experienced Cameroon cuisine .The name of this dish was enough to get me interested…. DG of a ministry in Nigeria? Nooooo just DG  as in a dish.
The journey to seat with my Cameroonian friend to put this dish and another one Ndole together has taken me about three months. It’s been just finding the time and also ‘ importing’ some of the ingredients.

So last weekend I drove across Lagos from the mainland to the island where Joan leaves to get this done and bring to you guys.  I hear some say you should have gone to Cameroun …little steps , for you guys I will travel there sometime soon
The combination of half ripe Plantain and Chicken is really interesting. When you add lots of veggies to this , you have some sumptuous meal going on there

A bit of digression from Director General….I hear about this ‘Cambridge diet’ and many of such similar diets  most ladies are patronizing these days to help them loose weight . As I understand these are expensive ventures which no one should embark on. Many of these diets are not sustainable as many people will get tired , bored and return to their former habits. Rather I will recommend to gradually reduce portion size of meals, delete some food items from your cooking and meals as a first step. The journey to loose weight is not short after all the weight gain took time. I always say allow your self sometime to return to the desired weight. However  for real overweight and obesity  conditions it is advisable to see a doctor and dietitian for more sustainable dietary plan.

So back to our Director General. of the day which can be had as dinner or lunch. I played around with white wine in this dish as I did not have chicken stock at home. The result was fabulous . Eat like a director general:) .Enjoy.

Recipe for Chicken Director General

8 -10 pieces Chicken ( broiler )
Bell Peppers( yellow, green, red)
8 pieces Tomatoes, skinned and chopped
4 fingers Carrots ( chopped)
Pieces Cameroon pepper to your taste ( optional )
1 table spoon White Pepper
1 table spoon ground Garlic
Chicken seasoning to taste
I large Onion ( chopped)
2 fingers Semi ripe plantain
2 cooking spoons Vegetable oil ( for the sauce)
1 table spoon Chicken vermicelli( very thin spaghetti ) – optional

Method for making Chicken Director General:

1, Season the Chicken with white pepper, garlic, salt, dried pepper and chicken seasoning . Allow to marinade for about 2 hrs
2, Drizzle little vegetable oil over chicken and roast till brown. Some people preface to fry.
3,In mean time cut plantain into desired shape and fry  till golden brown.
4, Place tomatoes in boiling water for about 3 minutes, remove and place in cold water , take out and it’s easy to remove the skin, chop and set aside
5, Chop other vegetables and set aside
6, Heat up oil, add the onion  and garlic and fry till onion is translucent.
7, Add the tomatoes, some additional dash of the white peppers , roast or fried chicken  with all the stock and oil from roasting and stir . You may wish to add a table spoon of crushed vermicelli at this point, it help to thicken the sauce. Taste and correct for seasoning.
8,   Add the carrots, peppers and plantain and continue cooking for about 5 minutes stirring from time to time to get a sauce . If you do not have enough sauce you may wish to add some chicken stock or water and chicken seasoning
9, Serve hot on its own or with rice

Cooking Tip: plantain has a way of absorbing the sauce from the dish so have enough liquid to serve everyone.